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[DrForester]

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is refusing to back House Speaker Paul D. Ryan in his upcoming primary election, saying in an interview Tuesday that he is “not quite there yet” in endorsing his party’s top-ranking elected official.

Some credit where it's due, that's kind of a good burn, firing Ryan's words back at him.

 

[rpg_fan]

Maybe not such a bad thing for their chances.

 

[TheOMan]

But now they can't because it looks like they're listening to Obama.

Obama using Chaos Control confirmed.

 

[Tranqueris]

Granted the nuance or this political system is mostly lost on me but what harm would be done if republicans stop backing Trump?

i get they all likely fear not be re-elected and want seats at the table should the GOP get a person in the Oval Office. However, only a fool could think Trump is or more importantly should become president, so I think it is career suicide to back him more than it is to distance yourself from him. Jump ship while you can to save face, because Trump could potentially salt the earth the GOP walks on.

Unfortunately for the GOP an overwhelming majority of these fools voted for Trump in the primary and there is a real risk for them of losing their own elections if they anger these voters. The funny thing is that they didn't foresee Trump being so petty that he would hold a grudge even after becoming the nominee and fucking them over anyway.

 

[NeonBlack]

We'll all remember where we were when the Republican Party became a WWE storyline.

 

[Henkka]

his opponent sent me a very scholarly and well thought out letter yesterday

Did they, really? Someone should look into that.

 

[xxracerxx]

I remember the conspiracy theory months back was that Trump was a Clinton plant to deliver the presidency/Congress to the Dems and Clinton..


Doesn't seem so far fetched now

Yes it does...Trump is just unhinged.

 

[BronzeWolf]

Obama chose the perfect day to urge Republicans to un-endorse Trump.

Because just by saying it, now they can't

Lol Obama's 5th dimensional chess is paying out

 

[Alex_Mexico]

I'm not really getting what Trump's problem with McCain is here.

McCain got Imprisioned during a war. You don't get it but that's the mark of a pussy if I ever saw one. What have you sacrificed anyway?

 

[Ithil]

Read the fables, GOP.

 

[Steel]

You know, I think I get what Trump's plan here is. He wants Congress to be full of yes-men that would bend to his every whim when he gets the presidency, so if the people already there aren't brown nosing him, he wants to get new ones.

I mean, the problem with this plan is that Trump doesn't have nearly as much pull as he thinks he does, but nonetheless I'm pretty sure that's what he's pulling for.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

In a way I'm grateful for Trump, because he is single handedly destroying the GOP. This really is amazing to witness.

 

[Kibbles]

Get them dems elected, aw yea

 

[karasu]

Time to make that Clinton endorsement, John.

That looks like it was written my Mojo jojo

 

[Veelk]

Obama chose the perfect day to urge Republicans to un-endorse Trump.

Because just by saying it, now they can't

Well, I think he genuinely wanted them to.

Still, I can't help but think he's laughing his ass off in private.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

Jamelle Bouie, staff writer for Slate and CBS commentator:
As per @joshtpm, wouldn't surprise me if this were Trump showing his dominance. https://twitter.com/mateagold/status/760574182308675584

Ryan Lizza at The New Yorker:
Obama's comments today probably make it more difficult for Republicans to un-endorse Trump. Wonder if that was his intention.

Basically, Trump's way of saying "I'm the captain".

 

[The Technomancer]

Good lord... If Ryan falls next Tuesday, it will be utter chaos, complete chaos. There will only be, effectively, one functioning national party left, the Democrats.

Even if Ryan doesn't fall, the fact that Trump is now at war against two of the highest ranking Republicans in the country is going bad news for the U.S.

My family is from Ryan's district

let the fucker burn

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

Obama chose the perfect day to urge Republicans to un-endorse Trump.

Because just by saying it, now they can't

Obama is outmaneuvering them from halfway around the world lol.

 

[JABEE]

Obama chose the perfect day to urge Republicans to un-endorse Trump.

Because just by saying it, now they can't

Trump knows they can't unendorse him now.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

Romney and McCain just need to unendorse this guy already.

Pretty sure Romney has never endorsed Trump and has been fairly vocal against Trump? I thought I remembered Romney saying he was going to consider Gary Johnson.

I'm really hoping a good chunk of GOP big wigs come out for clinton

It may be the only way to save the republican party... just a mess right now

They need to purge their ranks and rebuild as a center right party

Eh...I think there is a pretty huge gulf between supporting Trump or not voting for Trump and supporting Clinton. I'd think most Republicans on the fence about Trump would be more likely to peel off towards Gary Johnson than actively support Hillary.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Granted the nuance or this political system is mostly lost on me but what harm would be done if republicans stop backing Trump?

i get they all likely fear not be re-elected and want seats at the table should the GOP get a person in the Oval Office. However, only a fool could think Trump is or more importantly should become president, so I think it is career suicide to back him more than it is to distance yourself from him. Jump ship while you can to save face, because Trump could potentially salt the earth the GOP walks on.

It's twofold, like you mentioned.

A party that isn't unified will lose the support of people who lose belief in that the party can listen to them. If the GOP don't support Trump, then Trump won't win. But the GOP can save face, but it will fracture the party because you do have some Republicans legitimately backing Trump. If the GOP support Trump, and he loses, then that will taint all the people who supported him in the future. "But you supported this racist bigot, why should we support you in the future?". Basically, anyone who isn't a Republican, likely won't become a Republican in the future until the current GOP is eradicated. And they also lose those who were Republicans but don't agree with the racism.

If Trump wins(unlikely), then he and the GOP will be at an impasse since Trump will most likely dislike and disagree with the GOP. Basically, not unified.

So what you have is the main figure heads of the GOP 'endorsing' trump. But what's happening is, Trump isn't being reined in. You have those same figure heads having to put out statements that disagree with Trump, but not directly. Trump himself, dislikes the GOP. To an outsider, it all looks like a big fat mess. To people who align with the GOP? They're seeing a party that can't stick together and that won't come together to help each other. So they become disillusioned, and you're seeing some GOP denounce Trump publicly or say they'll vote for Hillary.

The party is dying a fast death. The Southern Strategy, with all their racist dog whistles, what was a slow death, has been sped up by Trump.

It's...astounding. There will be books written about this election.

 

[ChuChu]

there is no clear path to victory here for paulryan; he's stuck in a hard place, between looking like he's following king bobama's suggestion to abandon his own party's nominee, or begging like a weakling to suckle at emperor trump's shriveled orange teat.
trump's pettiness has its merits, starting to like this guy.

 

[avaya]

I'm screaming on the inside. I mean this is the stuff of dreams.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Granted the nuance or this political system is mostly lost on me but what harm would be done if republicans stop backing Trump?

i get they all likely fear not be re-elected and want seats at the table should the GOP get a person in the Oval Office. However, only a fool could think Trump is or more importantly should become president, so I think it is career suicide to back him more than it is to distance yourself from him. Jump ship while you can to save face, because Trump could potentially salt the earth the GOP walks on.

Here's the thing. The GOP does not like racists.

However, the GOP needs racists.

Until now, it has always been dog-whistles. We'll stop illegal immigration, because that's a crime. Crime is bad, I'm not saying blacks are bad, but crime is bad, and you can fill in the blacks, I mean blanks. We'll take down the terrorists over there, the islamists, the radical ones. You know the ones I mean. If you see something, say something. Fuck Obama.

Trump is just putting it all out there. He is giving verbiage to what has always been left unsaid. What are the low-income, angry-at-the-world voters going to do, vote Democrat? They are a reliable GOP voting bloc and have been promised every election that NEXT TIME is when the GOP will fix their problems. You know, illegals, crime, islamists, Obama.

The problem is the greater electorate needs plausible deniability on this. They need to think the Republicans are not actively courting racists. So Trump is kind of opening the door to the secret meeting and saying "You guys won't believe what's in here!" and that's really, really bad for the GOP. Because now they can't admit they're courting racists and they can't repudiate the white supremenationalist candidate, so they're stuck taking his balls in their face while being unable to do anything about it.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

Split the party, Ryan. It is now or never*

*Or in two/three years

 

[Steel]

Trump knows they can't unendorse him now.

Technically Paul never said he fully endorsed Donald. Donald is actually mimicking Ryan's own "non-endorsement" speech when he says "I'm not quite there yet. I'm not quite there."

 

[greendomo's ghost]

They all criticized him in some shape or form for his statements regarding the Khan family.

"Captain Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice — and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan — should always be honored. Period." - Paul Ryan

"I am appalled that Donald Trump would disparage them" Ayotte

"I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump's statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates." McCain

He's an incredibly petty individual who won't tolerate criticism or dissent from anyone.

 

[Vicetrailia]

It' hard to be a republican these days, you only have one choice and it sucks ass.

 

[BlastProcessing]

At some point the GOP will realize that they have put their faith in an agent of chaos.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I just realized how entertaining the movie based on this whole election cycle is going to be.

 

[Jerbs]

This is so good.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Ryan straight up said Trump was being racist, while also trying to avoid outright pulling his support. Trying to have his cake and eat it too. Gonna laugh if this costs him.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I just realized how entertaining the movie based on this whole election cycle is going to be.

And the inevitable counter movie Trump makes where he plays himself to "set the record straight."

 

[Hellsing321]

LoL everyday.
Dumpster fire level 5

This isn't even it's final form!

 

[Parshias7]

He should have done a good job for the vets but he didn't do a good job for the vets. Trump will do a good job for the vets unlike McCain who did not do a good job for the vets. Hope that clears it up.

Well, he hasn't done a good job for the vets and he hasn't done a good job for the vets and he hasn't done a good job for the vets and all work and no play makes Don a dull boy

Ohhh, I get it now. If Trump wanted to let people know he cared about veterans he probably should have emphasized it more in his statement. The American public doesn't do well with subtleties.

 

[Lo-Volt]

Time to make that Clinton endorsement, John.

McCain is in a tight primary for his Senate seat this year. He's going to anger someone no matter where he lands on Donald Trump, but he definitely can't hold on if he does that. (Which, for me, is fine; I won't miss him after his greatest hits like "Bom-bom-bom bom-bomb Iran" and "that guy".)

 

[ratcliffja]

"I won't unendorse you. But I don't have to campaign for you." - BatMcCain

Seriously, that's probably the route they'll go. They'll just stop publicly supporting him without announcing that they're dropping they're endorsement.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

I'm screaming on the inside. I mean this is the stuff of dreams.

It's more than what many hoped for. It's like...it's hilarious watching this unfold. The GOP is eating itself alive, they openly have to disagree with themselves, the nominee is running on his own time, the GOP is running on another, and they come off the fools. Meanwhile the Dems are holding strong together. There are disagreements here and there, but not on a daily basis. And not on a basis that the figureheads of the party have to denounce what is being said.

It's glorious.

 

[Adaren]

On a personal level, I feel kind of bad for all the semi-sane R politicians like Ryan.

Like, their policies are still shit, but as human beings they must be so stressed out and depressed right now.

 

[Velcro Fly]

This guy is unbelievably vindictive, almost to the point where I wonder how cruel he is to people he feels are less than him.

 

[Struct09]

John Boehner sure got out at the right time

 

[Saint Gregory]

“[Ryan’s] opponent is a big fan of what I’m saying — big fan,” Trump said. “His opponent, who’s running a very good campaign, obviously, I’ve heard — his opponent sent me a very scholarly and well thought out letter yesterday and all I did was say thank you very much for your very nice letter. You saw my statement.”

Another letter? Who the hell is still writing letters in 2016?

What I really want to know is if Ryan really asked for Trumps endorsement... that would be real news.

This guy is unbelievably vindictive, almost to the point where I wonder how cruel he is to people he feels are less than him.

Sooo.... everyone then?

 

[lewisgone]

I remember the conspiracy theory months back was that Trump was a Clinton plant to deliver the presidency/Congress to the Dems and Clinton..


Doesn't seem so far fetched now

If he was a plant I don't think he'd be this crazy. The Dems would be worried it was too obvious.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

It' hard to be a republican these days, you only have one choice and it sucks ass.

no you dont

 

[wesleyshark]

I remember the conspiracy theory months back was that Trump was a Clinton plant to deliver the presidency/Congress to the Dems and Clinton..


Doesn't seem so far fetched now

I've had this sneaking suspicion since the first republican debate. Probably not true, but fuck if it doesn't seem like a stronger possibility every passing day.

 

[ArchedThunder]

I hope we are seeing the beginning of Republicans pulling support and Trump's campaign falling apart.
It really feels like it's starting to implode on itself post DNC.

 

[Jeels]

Kelly Ayote is one of the few GOP leaders I respect

What the fuck, I bet Ryan and the rest feel like fucking fools for endorsing this mad man now, but they deserve the disrespect they are getting for not reigning him in from the start. Cowards all of them.

 

[univariate]

I mean, let's hold on.

Cruz also once suggested we ban muslim immigration and to interview brown-skinned christians to make sure they're not muslims in disguise.

Ryan's a spineless coward, but the devil is in the details, specifically when talking about devils.

Well that's exactly why Ryan is a bigger coward. Cruz can do all that heinous shit, but still conscientiously abstain from Trump.

 

[Piggus]

Breaking news on CNN now. Wolf getting me hyped.

 

[Trojita]

Instead of a standard reply, I have chosen a user avatar in this thread that best represents my feelings on the matter.